On Sunday, my colleague Kevin Manahan penned an entertaining piece in which he listed 10 reasons Chris Christie will never become president.

I beg to differ. The source of the difference lies in the way in which my colleague and I perceive Christie. Manahan argues the governor is too conservative. I have always argued that he’s not conservative enough.

That may irk us right-wingers here in Jersey. But nationally, it should be a strength. So without further ado, let me list the reasons so many Republicans around the country are pushing Christie to join the race for the 2012 GOP presidential nomination:

1. Rick Perry and Katy Perry. The Texas governor and the California singer are not related. But all over the internet, people are pointing out the two have a lot more in common than just great hairdos and great voices. Katy Perry parlayed her connections with a bunch of Biblical fundamentalists into national popularity. So did Rick. Both say lots of funny things.

There the similarity ends. It’s cute when a singer gets silly. But when a presidential candidate issues veiled threats against the Federal Reserve chairman, I find myself singing a couplet from one of Katy’s catchiest songs (see below): You’re in and you’re out, Rick.

2. Nice name. The last president to come from New Jersey was Woodrow Wilson. Bill Bradley went pretty far as well, parlaying a U.S. Senate seat into a second-place finish in the 2000 Democratic presidential nomination. In that regard, “Chris Christie” has a nice ring to it. If you doubt that, consider what would have happened if the ethnicity of this famously ethnic governor’s parents had been reversed. Would “Chris Grasso” play as well in Peoria? I doubt it.

3. The RINOs are hunting. The leaders of the mainstream Republican Party are often derided as “Republicans In Name Only” by right-wingers. But they rarely fail to get their way by June of any given year with 366 days in it. They want Mitt Romney, but can Romney get past the tea parties? Christie lines up a lot better.

4. He could win a blue or two. Ever since certified nongenius Karl Rove carved up the country into red and blue states, Republicans have been writing off California, New York and New Jersey among other delegate-rich blue states. Christie offers at least some hope of returning the Republican Party to competitiveness on the coasts.

5. It’s the stupid economy. If the economy is still in the dumps next year, that’s a winning issue for the GOP. Christie can market himself as the sane and sober alternative to the economically challenged Barack Obama.

6. Obamacare. It’s a losing issue for Obama, but not if Romney’s the candidate. He pioneered it when he was governor of Massachusetts. Christie’s got a clean slate and can attack from any angle.

7. He’s Catholic. Catholics are by far the largest single religious group in the nation and are concentrated in the same blue states where the Republicans need to make inroads. Yet the GOP has put only one Catholic candidate on its national ticket in all history. (Trivia quiz: Guess who?) A Catholic candidate could drive the Democrats crazy in some of their strongest states.

8. He’s good on TV. In person, Christie’s just another politician. On YouTube, he’s a star. The camera likes some people. It loves Chris Christie.

9. It’s undebatable: The RINOs hate ideas. I make no secret of my affinity for Ron Paul, the Texas congressman whose ideas are driving the debate on the GOP side. But the RINOs don’t want arguments breaking out during debates. They need to unite behind someone who speaks in sound bites. That’s our boy.

10. And finally, I agree with my colleague that Christie’s clueless on foreign affairs. But so are most Americans. Do you know your Alawites from your Sunnis? Neither does our governor. But it may not matter much. If the Mideast quiets down, that may work against Obama, ironically enough. The Republicans will be free to focus on the economy.

That leaves only the obesity issue. All I can say is: Get thee to a Walmart, Manahan. The economy may be down, but there’s a bull market in stretch pants.

Need I say more?

(Trivia answer: William Miller was the GOP vice presidential candidate in 1964.)